The present invention relates to hand-held computing devices. In particular, the present invention relates to user interfaces on hand-held computing devices.
In early models of hand-held devices, an entry in a list could be highlighted by tapping on it once and its xe2x80x9ccardxe2x80x9d or full window could be opened by tapping on the entry twice. After single tapping on the entry, an action, such as delete, cut, or copy, could be invoked on the entry by making a selection from a menu located at the top of the screen.
Since users often want to access the full card of an entry when they are working with the entry and double-tapping can be a difficult operation to perform especially when the user is moving, some newer models of hand-held devices display the entry""s xe2x80x9ccardxe2x80x9d or full window when the user single taps the entry. Because of this, when a user wants to perform an action on an entry, such as Delete, the entire card must be opened before the command can be selected from a menu. For often-repeated actions such as deleting mail entries, this is cumbersome.
In addition, because the menus in the prior art are opened using a separate tap of the stylus, it is impossible to invoke menu commands on the hand-held device unless both of the user""s hands are engaged in operating the device. If one of the user""s hands is otherwise engaged, for example holding a briefcase, the user cannot invoke menu commands for a displayed object.
The present invention provides a user interface for a pen-based device that allows users to activate the full xe2x80x9ccardxe2x80x9d for an entry using a single tap while also giving the user the ability to reach a menu of context dependent commands using a simple gesture. In particular, the present invention recognizes certain stylus and/or button inputs as context menu gestures. When these gestures are made, a context menu appears. The user is then able to select a command in the context menu that is to be performed.
Under one embodiment, the gesture consists of pressing and holding the stylus on a selection for a system-specified length of time. If the user does not move the stylus more than a system specified distance from the original location for that time, a context menu gesture is recognized and the application displays a context menu. In other embodiments, pressing and holding an external button on the pen-based device while an entry is highlighted is considered a context menu gesture. In still further embodiments, double tapping the stylus or pressing and holding an external button while tapping the stylus are considered context menu gestures.
Under one embodiment, the invention provides an Application Programming Interface (API) entitled SHRecognizeGesture( ). This API relieves the various applications on the hand-held device from having to determine if the user performed a valid context menu gesture. The API also allows the system to adjust the parameters of the gesture in the future and/or to accommodate the user (i.e., some more agile users may want a faster timeout/response).